#sys 


No. 
WHAT  WILT  THOU  THAT  I  SHOULD  DO  ? 

BY  REV.  WM.  J.    HOGE,  D.  P.,  OF  VA. 


"  What  wilt  thou  that  J  should  do  unto  thee?  " 
A  goodly  word,  indeed!  What  would  not  a  soul, 
struggling  in  the  depths  and  entanglements  of  sin, 
give  once  to  hear  it  irom  his  Lord?   Let  us  admire, 

I.  The  fulness  of  the  grace.  The  tender  love  of 
Christ  to  lost  souls  is -a  great  deep,  without  bottom 
and  without  shore.  The  wing  of  no  angel  can  bear 
him  so  high  that  he  can  look  over  all  its  extent. 
The.  guilt  of  no  sinner  has  been  able  to  sound  all  its 
depth,  ^he  countless  multitudes,  who  have  been 
washed  in  its  waters,  have  not  diminished  its  abund- 
ance nor  impaired  its  virtue. 

Jesus  puts  no  limit  to  His  offers.  Ask,  it 
shall  be  given  you.  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,  that 
your  joy  may  be  full.  Whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do.1  In  him  are  hid 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.2  All 
power  is  given  unto  Him  in  heaven  and  earth.3  He 
is  the  head  of  all  the  power.4  All  things  were  crea- 
ted by  Him  and  for  Him.5  In  Him  dwclleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.6  His  word  can 
open  heaven  to  the  vilest  sinner  :  yea,  His  smile 
can  make  a  heaven  in  the  saddest  heart.  He  is  Heir 
of  all  things,7  and,  at  the  believing  call  of  the  mean- 
est beggar,  He  will  make  the  beggar  a  joint-heir  with 
Him,*  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefined,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away9 — an  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory.10  When  we  are  Christ's  Christ  is  ours; 
and  then  all  things  are  ours."  Well  might  the  Apos- 
tle count  all  things  loss  for  Christ.12  Such  loss  is 
infinite  gain.  With  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  afflictions 

1  Mat.,  vii.  7  ;  John,  xvi.  24;  xiv.  13.  2  Col.,  ii.  3. 
3  Mat.,  xxviii.  18.  4  Col.,  ii.  10.  5  Col.,  i.  16. 
6  Col.,ii.  9.  7  Heb.,  i.  2.      8  Rom.,viii.l7 

9  1  Fet.,  i.  4.  10  2  Cor.  iv.  17.  • 

11  Cor.,  iii,  21-23.  12  Phil.,  iii,  7. 


2  WHAT    \tlLT    THOU,    &C. 

are  blessings,  shame  is  honor,  sickness  is  health,  and 
death  is  life  for  evermore ;  out  of  weakness  we  are 
made  strong,1  in  solitude  we  have  the  best  company; 
our  poverty  turns  to  the  true  riches,  our  crosses  to 
the  sweetestcomforts  ;  nature  gives  way  to  grace, 
and  grace  issues  in  eternal  glory. 

II.  Let  us-  also  admire  the  freeness  of  Christ's 
offers  to  lost  sinners.  The  freeness  of  the  offe  • 
springs  from  the  the  fulness  of  the  grace.  "  What 
wilt  thou  ?  "  Choose  for  thyself.  If  thou  dost  not 
carry  away  a  noble  gift,  it  is  thine  own  fault.  I  d<> 
not  set  bounds  to  thy  desires.  The  treasure  is 
infinite,  and  thou  hast  it  all  to  choose  from.** 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  not  straitened,  and  if  we 
are,  it  is  in  ourselves.2  The  Lord's  hand  is  not  shor- 
tened, neither  is  His  ear  heavy  ;  but  our  iniquities3' 
— ah,  there  is  the  trouble  !  And  to  sin  hides  God's 
facesooner,or  behind  a  darker  cloud,  than  our  unbe- 
lief. God's  grace  is  always  larger  than  man's  desire, 
and  freer  than  his  faith.'1  We  continually  n'eecl 
His  exhortation  to  Israel,  Open  thy  mouth  wide 
and  I  will  fill  it.5  One  prayer  should  be  ever  on  pur 
lips,  Lord,  increase  our)  faith!6  If  this  day  our 
fleece  is  dry,  it  is  not  because  there  is  no  dew  in 
heaven,  nor  because  none  fell  last  night.7  If  we 
take  little  pitchers  to  the  well,  we  shall  carry  little 
water  away.  Though  the  golden  bowl  be  full  of 
golden  oil,  the  lamp  will  burn  dim,  if  the  golden 
pipe  be  narrow  or  choked.8  The  ocean  itself  can 
pour  but  a  scanty  stream  through  a  slender  channel. 
And  when  sinners  cry,  I  have  no  grace,  it  is 
because  unbelief  has  shut  up  (heir  bosoms.  Or 
when  the  people  of  God  cry,  My  leanness!  my  lean- 
ness !  °  it  is  because  their  narrow  faith  suiTers  them 
only  to  taste  where  they  might  drink— only  to  snatch 

Mic,  ii.  7;  2  Cor.,  vi.  12.  8  Heb.,  xi.  34.  y  Is.,  lix.  i,  2. 
4  Eph.,  *ii.  20,  b  Ps.  lxxxi.  10.  e  Luke,  xviii.  5. 
7  Judges,  vi.  40,   8  Zech.,  iv.  2,  12.  9  Is.,  xxiv.  16. 


WHAT    WILT    THOU.    &C.  .  3 

crumbs  with  the  dogs,  while  tliey  might  sit  down 
with  the  children  at  the  table,  anc\  feast  on  all  the 
savory  things  with  which  Christ  spreads  His  board. 

"Whosoever"  and  "whatsoever"  are  two  pre- 
cious words  often  in  the  mouth  of. Christ.  Whoso- 
evo-  will  may  come.  1  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ;isk  in 
rny  name,  tha<  will  ^  do*  "Whosoever"  is  on 
he  outside  uf  the  gate,  ;>nd  lets  in  all  who  choose. 
"Whatsoever"  is  on  the  inside,  a.nd  gives  thos« 
who  enter  the  free  range  of  al'  the  region  and  treas- 
ury of  grace.  "  Whosoever''  makes  salvation  free, 
"  Whatsoever  "  makes  it  full. 

III.  See  how  Christ's  grace  condescends  'o  every 
soul's  peculiar  need.     He  will  suit  His  granting  to 
our  asking.     To  every  soul  He  says,    "  What  wH 
thou?" 

It  is  marvellous  and  beautiful  to  observe  how  va- 
rious arc  the  voices  of  free  grace.  "  I  am  thirsty," 
says  one.  "Come  to  the  waters."  she  cries.3  "1 
am  hungry,"  says  another.  "Then  eat  ye  that 
which  is  good,"  shesays,  "  and  let  your  soul  dcligh. 
itself  in  fatness."4  But  T  am  poor,  and  have 
nothing  to  buy  with."  '  Come,  buy  wii.e  and  milk 
without  money,  and  without,  price.'  6  "Wo  are 
weary,"  sigtf  the  laborers  in  the  sun-beaten  fields. 
"Comeunlo  me,"  breathes  her  answer 'ike  a  breeze 
from  the  waters,  "  and  1  will  give  you  rest."6  "  Can. 
thy  burden  on  the  Lord  aud  He  will  sustain  thee,"  7 
she  whispers  to  the  pilgrim  ready  to  faint  on  the 
highway.  "  Behold  the  Fountain,"  she  cies  to  the 
guilty,  "the  Fountain  opened  for  sin  and  unclean- 
ness."  8  To  the  lost  she  cries,  "  1  am  the  Way  \" 
to  the  ignorant,  "I  am  the  Truth  •"  to  the  dying. 
"  T  am  the  Life."9     How  large  her  welcome  to  th-, 

1  Rev.  xxii.  17  :  John,  vii.  37.  a  John,  xiv.  13. 

3  Is.,  lv.  1.  4  Is.,  lv.  2.  5  Is.,  iv.  1. 

a  Mat.,  xi.  28.       7  Pa.  lv.  22.  *  Zech.  xiii.  1. 
1  John,  xiv.  6. 


4  WHAT    WILT     THOU,    &C, 

sinner,how  soothing  her  consolations  to  the  mourner, 
how  inspiring  her  tones  to  him  that  is  faint  of  heart ! 
There  is  no  disease  for  which  she  has  not  a  remedy, 
no  want  for  which  she  has  not  a  supply  ;  and  every 
one  who  applies  to  her  shall  confess  at  length,  "  It 
is  enough;  lam  blessed  as  if  all  the  methods  and 
riches  of  grace  were  for  me  alone!  " 

IV.  This  question  teaches  that,  though  Christ 
knows  what  we  want  and  what  He  will  do,  He  will 
have  us  express  our  wants. 

Prayer  is  not  giving  information  to  God ;  that 
His  Omniscience  does  not  need  :'  nor  does  it  change 
His  will ;  that  His  Immutability  cannot  sutler.2  It 
does  not  awaken  His  grace,  for  it  is  from  everlas- 
ting^ nor  increase  it,  for  it  is  infinite.  But  it  opens 
a  way  for  grace  to  flow  according  to  its  own  eternal 
plan.  It  is  faith's  answer  to  Christ's  question, 
"  What  wilt  thou  ?,;  It  lives  only  as  grace  quickens 
it,  and  speaks  only  as  grace  teaches  it.  There  is  no 
true  prayer  till  God  pours  out  His  Holy  Spirit — the 
Spirit  of  grace  and  supplications.3  He  is  first  the 
Spirit  of  grace,  implanting  holy  affections,  and  then 
the  Spirit  of  supplications,  turning  these  affections 
into  earnest  desires,  which  breathe  from  the  heart 
in  prayer,  even  as  the  same  Spirit  helpeth  our  in- 
firmities.4 Let  us,  therefore,  come  boldly  nnto  the 
throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy,  and 
find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need!6 

'Mat,,  vi.  8     2  James,  i.  17.      3  Zech.,  xii.  10. 
4  Rom.,  viii.  26.        5  Heb.,  iv.  10. 


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